Charita Goshay: Even if we can have it all, should we?

Wednesday

Nov 26, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2008 at 9:19 PM

This may sound crazy, but the current economic meltdown actually might do us some good in the long run. There’s nothing like complete collapse to slap you awake and help you to redefine your priorities.

Charita Goshay

This may sound crazy, but the current economic meltdown actually might do us some good in the long run.

There’s nothing like complete collapse to slap you awake and help you to redefine your priorities.

From McMansions with no furniture to kiddie parties rivaling a Roman spectacle, we’ve been in denial.
Finally, we’re realizing that even if we can have it all -- which we can’t -- maybe we shouldn’t.

Here’s hoping our national newfound sobriety finds its way into how we approach the upcoming holidays. Retailers already are steeling themselves for a blue Christmas, even trotting out such old-school enticements as “layaway.”

All indications show that this year, consumers aren’t diving into debt in an attempt to replicate those give-her-diamonds commercials, which aren’t really commercials but are fantasies for people who barely can afford to pay attention.

In fact, it’s looking more like a “Waltons Mountain” holiday special. Every one of us has an older relative who can recall -- in detail -- how poor they were as kids but how rich they were in love and family, the only stuff that matters, anyway.

If the current trajectorydoesn’t change, you someday may be boring your grandchildren with the same tale.

We like to blame politicians for the fix we’re in, but much of fault lies within ourselves. Politicians do tax-and-spend, but many of us “spend-don’t-save.”

Does a toddler really need a $60 dress or her own TV?

What’s sad is some people will punish themselves over their inability to buy as much this season, all because we’ve hogtied our worth to which gifts we get, what we give and how much.

Holidays have become so perverted by mass consumption and debt that we’ve forgotten what they’re about: love, family and all that good stuff, the value of which can never be devalued, diminished or measured.

No holiday for hunger

Last week, figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that one in every eight Americans went hungry in 2007, including 691,000 children.

Another 36.2 million Americans are “food insecure” -- that is, they aren’t starving, but they also aren’t eating nutritionally. They’re eating what they can afford, namely salty, fatty and most importantly, cheap food.

Hunger is not like measles or a broken leg. You can’t always see it. It stretches into neighborhoods far beyond the lines at the Samaritan Table and the Salvation Army.

It has seeped into the lives of people who once prided themselves on donating to such causes, people who work every day, who have scaled back ever so slightly on their meals, just to make them last.

I’m not asking you to flog yourself because you may be more fortunate than others. I’m just asking that, as you belly up to the table tomorrow to give thanks, say a prayer for them, too.

Contact Charita Goshay at charita.goshay@cantonrep.com.

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